Surya Namaskar is a set of 12 (depending on which school of Yoga we belong to, it could be having different number of steps too) asanas performed in succession.
12 steps. Stand in front of the mat with feet around 2 inches apart
1. Namaskarasana - Inhale and Exhale. Exhale when you say the mantra - forearms should be perpendicular to the ground
2. Ardha Chandarasana - inhale - focus on the stability of the pose and keep stretching the hands towards the ceiling. Gently push the hips forward
3. Pada Hastasana - exhale - do your best here. Flexibility and depth comes with practise
4. Ashwa Sanchalasana - inhale - the knee of the non stretched leg should not cross the tip of the toes. Take care. The leg stretched out, ensure that the soles of the feet are looking at the ceiling. If you have stretched your right foot out, when coming back, bring the right foot back again in step 9. The next step change the sequence to left foot
5. Dandasana - HOLD the breath. Check me in the video. My entire body is one straight line.
6. Ashthanga Namaskara - exhale - only the 2 feet, the 2 knees, the chest, the chin and the 2 hands - totalling 8 parts of the body should touch the ground.
7. Bhujangasana - inhale - navel on the mat. elbows as close to the body as possible and shoulders as far away from the ears as possible. Don't attempt to straighten elbows if the above rules cannot be adhered to
8. Adho Mukha Shwanasana - exhale - check if the entire soles of both the feet can be flat on the mat. Check my posture in the video.
9. Ashwasanchalasana - inhale
10. Pada Hastasana - exhale
11. Ardha Chandrasana - inhale
12. Tadasana - exhale
The most amazing benefits of most asanas and Surya Namaskars in particular could be
1. Mind Body co-ordination
2. Aerobic activity
3. Amazing extent and range of stretches
4. Profound effect on the Asana practice of a Yogi
I will relate my own experiences with Surya Namaskars.
I started practising Surya Namaskars as just one more of the asanas in my sequence of asanas that I learnt from The Art of Living more than 10 years ago. I used to do 12 rounds everyday and the practise was intermittent. Somewhere around 6 years ago, I regularised the practice. Once the practise was regularised, the efforts to increase the counts of my practice from the daily 12 started taking place. Somewhere around 3 years ago I started to increase the number of counts that I was doing daily from 12 to 24 and then to 54 on a daily basis.
Then the BIG thing happened. In 2014 October when I was doing a Teachers Training Program in The Art of Living Ashram in Bangalore, we had to undergo some very deep cleansing processes which resulted in my developing a mild fever. A Russian Yoga teacher called Fil Dunsky took the initiative to make the entire batch of students to do a 108 rounds of Surya Namaskars. In spite of my illness, I did not want to let go of this awesome opportunity to do the 108 rounds, something I had never done till then. After pushing myself through the process in my unwell state, I was stunned that once I had completed the process, my fever was done with and I felt ill no more!
With this wonderful and healing experience with me, I took this home and started slowly practising to do a 108 Surya Namaskars in anticipation of a YOGATHON where participants do a 108 Surya Namaskars! Once the event was over, the feeling of goodness that I carried with me was so strong, that I never had the heart to either drop the practice or even move back to my regular 54 rounds. The greatest consequence of the practice has been that depth to which my regular asana practice has got to. The 108 SNs practice is like lighting up a flame in every muscle and joint of my body. This has deepened the extent and limits of my twists, my forward bends, my back bends and not the least my physical strength.
The daily practice of a huge number of SNs has a definitive effect on the body. It is for all of us to experience.
I am embedding a video link of my doing the Surya Namaskars. Have a look at it and do comment on the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYeujlpIaqc
12 steps. Stand in front of the mat with feet around 2 inches apart
1. Namaskarasana - Inhale and Exhale. Exhale when you say the mantra - forearms should be perpendicular to the ground
2. Ardha Chandarasana - inhale - focus on the stability of the pose and keep stretching the hands towards the ceiling. Gently push the hips forward
3. Pada Hastasana - exhale - do your best here. Flexibility and depth comes with practise
4. Ashwa Sanchalasana - inhale - the knee of the non stretched leg should not cross the tip of the toes. Take care. The leg stretched out, ensure that the soles of the feet are looking at the ceiling. If you have stretched your right foot out, when coming back, bring the right foot back again in step 9. The next step change the sequence to left foot
5. Dandasana - HOLD the breath. Check me in the video. My entire body is one straight line.
6. Ashthanga Namaskara - exhale - only the 2 feet, the 2 knees, the chest, the chin and the 2 hands - totalling 8 parts of the body should touch the ground.
7. Bhujangasana - inhale - navel on the mat. elbows as close to the body as possible and shoulders as far away from the ears as possible. Don't attempt to straighten elbows if the above rules cannot be adhered to
8. Adho Mukha Shwanasana - exhale - check if the entire soles of both the feet can be flat on the mat. Check my posture in the video.
9. Ashwasanchalasana - inhale
10. Pada Hastasana - exhale
11. Ardha Chandrasana - inhale
12. Tadasana - exhale
The most amazing benefits of most asanas and Surya Namaskars in particular could be
1. Mind Body co-ordination
2. Aerobic activity
3. Amazing extent and range of stretches
4. Profound effect on the Asana practice of a Yogi
I will relate my own experiences with Surya Namaskars.
I started practising Surya Namaskars as just one more of the asanas in my sequence of asanas that I learnt from The Art of Living more than 10 years ago. I used to do 12 rounds everyday and the practise was intermittent. Somewhere around 6 years ago, I regularised the practice. Once the practise was regularised, the efforts to increase the counts of my practice from the daily 12 started taking place. Somewhere around 3 years ago I started to increase the number of counts that I was doing daily from 12 to 24 and then to 54 on a daily basis.
Then the BIG thing happened. In 2014 October when I was doing a Teachers Training Program in The Art of Living Ashram in Bangalore, we had to undergo some very deep cleansing processes which resulted in my developing a mild fever. A Russian Yoga teacher called Fil Dunsky took the initiative to make the entire batch of students to do a 108 rounds of Surya Namaskars. In spite of my illness, I did not want to let go of this awesome opportunity to do the 108 rounds, something I had never done till then. After pushing myself through the process in my unwell state, I was stunned that once I had completed the process, my fever was done with and I felt ill no more!
With this wonderful and healing experience with me, I took this home and started slowly practising to do a 108 Surya Namaskars in anticipation of a YOGATHON where participants do a 108 Surya Namaskars! Once the event was over, the feeling of goodness that I carried with me was so strong, that I never had the heart to either drop the practice or even move back to my regular 54 rounds. The greatest consequence of the practice has been that depth to which my regular asana practice has got to. The 108 SNs practice is like lighting up a flame in every muscle and joint of my body. This has deepened the extent and limits of my twists, my forward bends, my back bends and not the least my physical strength.
The daily practice of a huge number of SNs has a definitive effect on the body. It is for all of us to experience.
I am embedding a video link of my doing the Surya Namaskars. Have a look at it and do comment on the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYeujlpIaqc
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